Edwards Calls For Drug Price Controls

June 6, 2003
Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) is proposing an extensive program of drug industry regulation to reduce the cost of prescription drugs.

The nation must decide "whether we put consumers or corporate interests first," Edwards said. "We need the pharmaceutical industry. They develop therapies that save people's lives and medicines that improve our quality of life, and they deserve a good profit for that important work."

But, Edwards added, "They don't deserve to inflate that profit by stifling competition, gouging consumers and cutting secret deals -- all at the expense of patients and taxpayers."

Edwards also said that the federal government should provide seniors with a prescription drug benefit administered by Medicare, rather than by private health plans. He said the federal government should "impose unilateral price reductions for Medicare purchases" of prescription drugs in the event that Medicare cannot negotiate adequate discounts with pharmaceutical companies.

Edwards outlined his proposal before an audience of 1,500 activists at a Washington, D.C., conference sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future. Major elements include:

• New disclosure requirements for direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements, such as rules that would require pharmaceutical companies to include in the ads information about the effectiveness of the medication compared with similar products on the market;
• More authority for the FDA to fine companies that make false claims about their products or mislead consumers;
• Increased regulation of pharmacy benefit managers and a requirement that they disclose whether they have special agreements with pharmaceutical companies that might affect the selection of medications for their prescription drug lists;
• Increased negotiations between federal and state governments and pharmaceutical companies to obtain reduced prices on prescription drugs for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries;
• A review of prescription drug patent laws that could provide consumers with earlier access to generic medications;
• An investigation into whether pharmaceutical companies use federal research subsidies properly; and
• A comprehensive Department of Justice investigation into the practices that pharmaceutical companies use to set prices reported to government programs.

Edwards said that he supports legislation that would close loopholes in patent laws that allow brand-name pharmaceutical companies to prevent the entry of generic medications to the market and he estimated that efforts to end the "abusive use of patents" by pharmaceutical companies would save consumers $60 billion over 10 years.